Musician wellbeing is shaped by more than performance work. In the 2023 Musicians’ Census, 30% of UK musicians reported negative mental wellbeing, while 23% said they did not earn enough to support themselves or their family. These figures come from a voluntary, self-selecting online survey of 5,867 UK musicians aged 16 and over who earned, or intended to earn, money from music. Data was collected from January to March 2023.
This article brings together the published statistics on mental wellbeing, career outlook, income, access to work, disability and measured anxiety. The Census measure of “low mental wellbeing” combines somewhat negative, negative and extremely negative responses; it is not a clinical diagnosis.
Contents
- Overall mental wellbeing and career outlook
- Age, experience and identity
- Roles, genres and geography
- Income and financial security
- Career access and progression
- Disability and physical wellbeing
- Anxiety, depression and measured wellbeing
Overall mental wellbeing and career outlook
The Musicians’ Census Mental Wellbeing Report reported several levels of self-described mental wellbeing during the 2023 Musicians’ Census:
- 30% of UK musicians reported negative mental wellbeing.
- 11% rated their mental wellbeing as neither positive nor negative.
- 3% reported extremely negative mental wellbeing.
- 8% reported negative, but not extremely negative, mental wellbeing.
Career expectations also varied with wellbeing. Among musicians with extremely negative mental wellbeing, 19% said they were very or fairly unlikely to still work in music in one year, and 23% said they were very or fairly unlikely to still work in music in five years. Across all Census respondents, 7% said they were very or fairly unlikely to work in music in one year, while 11% gave that answer for five years.
These are self-reported expectations from the 2023 survey period, not forecasts of actual departures from music. They describe how respondents assessed their own likelihood of continuing.
Age, experience and identity
Low mental wellbeing was reported at different rates across career stages. The Census found that 41% of music students reported low mental wellbeing, as did 41% of respondents who had not yet worked as a musician. Among musicians with one to five years of experience, the figure was 34%. It was 20% among musicians with more than 30 years of experience.
Age differences were also reported:
| Group | Reported negative or low mental wellbeing |
|---|---|
| Musicians aged under 45 | 36% |
| Musicians aged 45–65 | 28% |
| Musicians aged 65 and over | 10% |
The published Census figures also showed differences by gender and sexual identity. Low mental wellbeing was reported by 28% of male musicians and 31% of female musicians. The rate was 63% among musicians who defined their gender outside the male/female binary and 63% among trans musicians. Among LGBQ+ musicians, 43% reported low mental wellbeing.
These categories describe respondent groups in the 2023 Musicians’ Census. They should not be treated as a clinical comparison between identities, and the survey’s voluntary, self-selecting design limits how broadly the percentages can be generalized.
Roles, genres and geography
The Census reported differences between UK nations and between parts of England. Low mental wellbeing was reported by 30% of musicians in England, 37% of musicians in Wales, 34% of musicians in Northern Ireland and 33% of musicians in Scotland. Within England, 38% of respondents in the North East reported negative mental wellbeing, compared with 25% in the East Midlands.
Reported rates also differed by music-related role:
- 38% of studio/mastering engineers and live sound engineers reported negative mental wellbeing.
- 37% of producers reported negative mental wellbeing.
- 30% of music teachers and tutors reported negative mental wellbeing.
- 30% of performing musicians reported negative mental wellbeing.
Genre figures in the Census included 35% of musicians working in dance music, 33% of musicians working in rock and alternative music, and 33% of musicians working in UK Rap reporting low mental wellbeing.
The geography figures refer to where respondents were based, while the role and genre figures refer to respondents’ reported work categories. The dataset does not establish why one group’s percentage was higher or lower than another’s.
Income and financial security
Income was closely connected with the wellbeing patterns reported in the Census. Low mental wellbeing was reported by 34% of musicians earning up to £7,000 annually from music, 29% of those earning £21,000–£41,000, and 17% of those earning more than £55,000 annually from music.
Financial pressure was also visible in the direct questions about household support and debt:
- 37% of musicians reporting low mental wellbeing said they did not earn enough to support themselves or their family.
- 23% of all Census respondents said they did not earn enough to support themselves or their family.
- 48% of musicians who said they did not earn enough to support themselves or their family reported low mental wellbeing.
- 47% of musicians reporting low mental wellbeing said they were in debt.
The results do not show that income alone caused a particular wellbeing outcome. They show overlapping self-reported financial and wellbeing conditions during the January–March 2023 data-collection period.
Career access and progression
The Census also asked about resources and access to work. Only 20% of musicians reporting low mental wellbeing said they had enough money left each month for things they enjoy, compared with 30% of all Census respondents. Similarly, 36% of musicians reporting low mental wellbeing said they earned enough to support themselves or their family, compared with 44% of all respondents.
Finding work across different distances was harder for the low-wellbeing group in the published results. 40% of musicians reporting low mental wellbeing found it very or quite hard to find work at all distances, compared with 24% of all Census respondents. In addition, 30% of musicians reporting low mental wellbeing said they needed work outside music for financial reasons; the corresponding figure across all Census respondents was 24%.
Career development barriers were widespread, but more common among musicians reporting low mental wellbeing:
| Career-development measure | Low mental wellbeing | All Census respondents |
|---|---|---|
| Experienced at least one barrier | 94% | 85% |
| Cited inability to make a sustainable income as a restriction | 58% | 44% |
| Cited no clear route for career progression as a restriction | 47% | 38% |
The figures indicate that financial sustainability and unclear progression were prominent reported restrictions. They do not quantify the severity, duration or individual causes of each barrier.
Disability and physical wellbeing
The Musicians’ Census disabled-musicians report, published in 2024, covered 2,593 disabled musicians and reported subgroup self-descriptions. In that report, 43% of disabled musicians reported negative mental wellbeing and 39% reported negative physical wellbeing.
Financial strain was reported in a more specific subgroup: 27% of disabled musicians with mental-health conditions and/or neurodivergent profiles reported being in debt. The report also found that 88% of disabled musicians who experienced disability-based discrimination said they were open with all or some people they worked with.
These figures use the report’s disabled-musician population and subgroup definitions. They are not directly interchangeable with the overall Census percentages, and “negative physical wellbeing” is distinct from a medical diagnosis or a measured physical-health condition.
Anxiety, depression and measured wellbeing
The peer-reviewed study “Predicting anxiety, depression, and wellbeing in professional and nonprofessional musicians” used a different sample and measurement approach. Its sample contained 254 musicians and music-industry participants from 13 countries, with study data collected for the 2023 article.
In that sample, 53.8% scored in the abnormal anxiety range on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In the same sample, 33.2% scored outside the normal depression range on HADS.
Those percentages should not be read as a direct estimate of all musicians globally. The study sample was international and contained 254 participants, while the Musicians’ Census was a voluntary UK survey of 5,867 musicians. The measures also differ: the study used HADS cut-offs for anxiety and depression, whereas the Census low-mental-wellbeing measure combined self-reported response categories.
The Musicians’ Census Mental Wellbeing Report therefore provides the clearest UK snapshot for the January–March 2023 period, while the peer-reviewed study provides a separate, internationally sampled measurement of anxiety and depression. Percentages are reported as published and may not sum to 100% because of rounding or omitted categories.